Furnace regulator



Dec. 23, 1924. 1,520,496

H. E. HEINZ FURNACE REGULATOR Filed March 5, 1921 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 H. E.HEINZ FURNACE REGULATOR Filed March 5, 1921 2 Sheets-sheaf 2 PatentedDec. 23, 1924.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HARRY E. HEINZ, 0F MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA.

FURNACE REGULATOR.

Application filed March 5, 1921. Serial No. 449,680.

7 '0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HARRY E. HEINZ, a citizen of the United States,residing at Minneapolis, in the county of Hennepin and State ofMinnesota, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in FurnaceRegulators; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear,and exact description of the invention, such as will enable othersskilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to a thermostatic regulator, and particularly tosuch a regulator designed for use in a building to automaticallyregulate a furnace or other heat supplying medium therefor. The devicecomprises the terminals of an electric circuit, which circuit iscontrolled by a member connected to a thermostat, which alternatelycontacts with the terminals to close a circuit through an electricallyoperated device, which, in turn, moves the parts of the furnace or heatsupplying means to furnish more or less heat,

It is an object of this invention to produce such a regulator, the partsof which are simple in construction and so arranged that the regulatorcan be quickly disassembled into three or four parts, each containing aportion of the regulator, which sections are provided with readilydetachable fastening means by which they are secured together and by theoperation of which they can be quickly and entirely separated.

It is another object of this invention to provide such a regulator withclock operated means to adjust the regulator at diiferent periods, suchmeans being arranged in combination with a clock having atime-controlled disk and a crank connected to an alarm shaft, said crankconstituting the actuator for the adjusting means.

It is a further object of this invention to simplify the construction ofthe regulator, and to render the same capable of very fine and accurateadjustment.

These and other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparentfrom the following description made in connection with the accompanyingdrawings in which like reference characters refer to the same partsthroughout the different views, and in which Fig. 1 is a perspectiveview of the assembled regulator;

Fig. 2 is a central vertical section through the regulator, the clockbeing shown in side elevation;

Fig. 3 is a view in front elevation of the u back plate of theregulator;

Fig. 4 is a view in front elevation of the intermediate section and theparts carried thereby;

Fig. 5 is a view of the front casing which carries a thermometer;

Fig. 6 is a view in elevation of the rear of the clock used;

Fig. 7 is a sectional plan view taken on the line 77 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 8 is a detail in elevation showing a modified form of adjustingarm; and

Fig. 9 is a partial view of the rear side of the intermediate section.

Referring to the drawings, the regulator comprises a back plate 1 ofsubstantially the shape shown in Fig. 3; and this plate carries aplurality of binding'posts 2 shown as three in number, to which postsare attached the leads or electrical conductors for the controllingcircuit. The posts are surrounded and insulated by insulating bushings 2and thus have no electrical connection with plate 1. These conductorspass from the posts through an opening shown in the plate 1 and will beconnected to an automatic switch device usuall located in the basementor adjacent the eat supplying medium. The plate 1 has centrally disposedthereon at its upper portion a small tongue 3 punched out of and bent upfrom the plate. Tongues a are also punched out of the plate and bent upinto oppositely disposed positions at the sides thereof substantiallymidway of the length of the same. The plate 1 has a small opening 5formed centrally therein at its lower edge and a lever 6 having a flatportion 6 at its lower end is pivoted immediately above said opening.The lever has an upturned portion 6 at its upperend constituting a smallhandle, and stops 7 are provided for limiting the movement of the lever.and 6 form fastening means for detachably holding the intermediatecasing 8 onto the plate 1. This casing is provided with a small hole 8at the top thereof through which the tongue 3 pro ects, as shown in Fig.2. The sides of the casing press against the tongues i which are more orless resilient and hold the casing in place. A lug 8 projects upwardlyfrom the central portion of the lower inside edge of the casing 8 andThe members 3, 4'

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has projections extending into the opening 5 when the casin 8 is placedupon the plate 1. The lever 6 is then swung to the right from theposition shown in Fig. 3 and the portion 6 swings in front of the lug 8"securely holding and locking the casing 8 to the plate 1. The casing 8carries in its upper rear portion a layer of insulating material 8 andthree blnding posts 9 extend through the front portion of said casingand through a layer of insulating material 8 disposed on said frontportion these posts being surrounded by insulating bushings 9 so as tohave no electrical contact with said casing. Flat U-shaped spring clips10 are disposed under the nuts on the binding posts 9 in contact withthe insulation sheet 8 and these clips are disposed in plan, as shown bythe dotted lines in Fig. 4. When the casing 8 is placed on the plate 1,the heads of the binding screws in posts 2 contact with the outersurface of the clips 10 and thus form an electrical connection betweenthe posts 2 and the posts 9. With this construction, the casing 8 can bereadily and entirely detached from the plate 1 and the electricalconnection between posts 2 and 9 is made when the casing 8 is replacedon the said plate. The upper binding post 9 on the front of the casing8, as shown in Fig. 4, is connected to a thermostat ring 11 preferablyconstructed of different metals on its inner and outer circumferences,so that the ring will expand and contract with change of temperature. Tothe free end of the ring -11 an arm 12 is connected and has its lowerportion provided with or formed as a cylindrical rod or wire 12, the endof which is bent rearwardly and is in contact with a fiber or otherinsulating plate 13. The casing 8 is provided with an intermediatetransversely extending web 8 and this web has a transversely extendingsmall slot 8 formed thereacross and a shaft or post member 14 has itslower end passing through an aperture formed centrally of said slot andextends forwardly through the front plate of the casing 8 throughanother opening in a similar slot 8 formed in said front plate. The thinportion of the metal above the slot 8 forms a spring bar and a slot 8 isformed in the front plate of the casing 8 to give a similar s ringeffect in the slot 8 The post 14 is held frictionally in the aperturesin the plate by this resiliency of the metal adjacent said apertures.The post 14 extends forwardly through the front plate of the easing 8and a small metal washer is placedthereon immediately adjacent the saidplate. The disk member 15 is placed on the post adjacent the washer anda fiber or other insulating block or plate 13 is placed on the postadjacent the disk member 15. A spring washer 16 surrounds the postadjacent the fiber plate 13 and this spring washer is ressedfrictionally against the said plate by a thumb screw 17 threaded ontothe end of the post 14. At its rear end, the post has rigidly securedthereto a depending arm 18 having an elongated slot formed centrally inits ower portion. The member 13 immediately adjacent the upper portionof the washer 16 is provided with raised portions at each side thereofhaving an opening or channel extending therebetween and flat contactmembers 18 are secured to these raised portions by small headed screws.The outer ends of the contacts 18 are connected to the lower bindingposts 9 by wires 19 shown as formed in coils at each side of the casing8. It will be noted that the inturned end of the lower portion of member12 is located between the edges. of the contact members 18. At its rearportion, the fiber plate 13 has secured thereto by small rivets 20, orother suitable fastenin means, the pointer member 21. This mem er, asshown in Fig. 2, extends upwardly and forwardly so that its upper end,which is formed as an indicating pointer, projects through thethermostat ring 11 and swings in a plane immediately in front of theouter circumference of said ring. The lower portion of the member 21 isbifurcated to extend down on either side of the washer 16, the armsthereof being provided with flat ends. These ends are arranged tocontact with lugs 22 which are struck up from the body of stop plates 28which are pivoted at 24 for frictional swinging movement about saidpivot. The ends of the stop members 23 are provided with upturned andknurled handle portions 24, which portions extend outside of the casingof the regulator, as shown in Fig. 1. The casing 8 is provided at itsupper front portion with an opening 8 and the spring 25 is secured tothe rear of the front plate of said casing and bent into U- shape andhaving its free end bent to extend downwardly through the openin 8 incontact with the upper side thereof.

A front casing 26 is provided for the regulator and is providedon itsfront surface with a thermometer of standard type. This casing isprovided at its rear edge with slots 26 through which project the stopmembers 23. The casing has an arcuate slot 27 at its upper portion abovethe thermometer and is marked with certain temperature designationsadjacent "the upper side of this slot.

As shown, the central or normal designation is marked 7 O and the otherdesignations increase and decrease therefrom. The pointed end of member21 is visible through the slot 27 and moves adjacent thereto inside thecasing 26 and is adapted to co-operate with the designations abovedescribed. The casing 26 is provided at its upper inner edge with anoutwardly and upwardly extending small lug or tongue 28 and is alsoprovided with a small spring lug 29 at its lower side edge which isadapted to enter an opening formed in the lower front portion of thecasing 8. By means of the lugs or tongues 28 and 29* the casing 26 canbe quickly at tached to and detached from the casing 8. The upper lug 28will be pressed against the spring member pressing the same down andentering under the edge of the casing 8. The casing 26 will then beswung inwardly and the lug .29 will resiliently snap into the openingprovided therefor and the casing will then be firmly fixed in place.

The casing 8, at its lower portion, as

shown in Fig. 4, is circular in form and carries an intermediatecircular flange or shelf 8*. A clock member 29 forms part of theregulator and this clock member, as

. shown in Fig. '6, is provided with a timecontrolled disk which ispreferably constructed to make one revolution in twentyfour hours andwhich is graduated to indicate time. Arms 31 are clamped to the front ofthis disk by a suitable thumb nut so that saidarms 31 can be adjustedabout the disk 30. As shown, the arms 31 are provided with lateralrecesses 31Vforming curved projecting fingers '31". An alarm trippingmember such as usually provided with an alarm clock is shown designatedas 32 and comprises a pin adapted to be cammed outwardly by the fingers31" and to drop into the recess 31 when the end of the finger has movedpast the same. The clock is also provided with an alarm shaft 33 whichis arranged to make one-half of a revolution each time the alarm istripped, and this shaft is equipped with a crank arm 34 from whichprojects a crank pin 35, which, when the clock is placed in positionpasses through the slot in the member 18. The clock is inserted into thelower circular portion of the casing 8 and restsagainst the shelf 8*.being held in position by the friction of its sides with the sides ofthe casing. A lug 29 is secured to the top of the clock casing andadapted to enter a recess 8 formed at the bottom of the front portion ofthe casin 8 to keep the clock from turning when placed in position. Itis seen that the clock can be easily and quickly removed by merelywithdrawing the same from the casing.

The operation of the device is as follows:

The back plate 1 will be secured in position on a wall or other fixedsupport in a building, the electrical contacts being broughttherethrough and attached to the binding posts 2. As above stated. theseconductors lead to an automatic switch adapted to cause a. one hundredand eighty degree turn of a motor which is connected to the dampers of afurnace or other parts of the heat supplying means. The regulator beingassembled. as described and as shown in Fig. 1, the pointer member 21will be moved it is desired to maintain in the room or building. The arm21 is rigidly secured to the insulating plate 13 and is frictionallycarried on the post 14. When the pointer 21 is moved therefore, theplate 13 will be moved and the contacts 18 will be moved therewith. Thespace between the contact members 18 will be slightly larger than thediameter of the member 12. When the member 12 contacts with one of thecontact members 18 the heat supplying means will be moved to position toincrease or continue the heat supply, and when the temperature in theroom is raised to the point desired and passes above the point, thethermostat ring 11 will expand and move the member 12 into contact withthe other member 18 and the circuit will then be closed to shut off thesupply of heat. It will, of course, be understood that the plate 13-andthe arm 18 are moved about the post 14 as a center when the pointer 21is moved. The post 14 as described, is frictionally held so that it caneasily be oscillated but will be frictionally retained in the positionto which it is moved.

In order to automatically adjust the pointer 21, the clock 29 isprovided. The arms 31 which form designating members will be set tooperate the alarm stop at suitable times designated by their positionrelative to disk 30, and this operation will rotate the crank arm 34..lhis will, in turn, swing the arm 18 to one side or the other whichwill turn the post 14 and thus swing the pointer 21. Thus, if it bedesired at 11 p. m. to switch the pointer 21 to maintain a temperatureof fifty degrees and at 5 a. m. it is desired to have the temperatureraised and maintained at eighty degrees, the stop member 23 will bemoved so that when .the pointer 21 is moved to the left it will contactwith the lug 22 thereon, when it registers with numeral 50 and the otherstop member 23 will be adjusted so thatthe lower part of the pointer 21will contact with the stop 22 thereon when it registers with numeral 80.The arm 31 will then be adjusted to operate the alarm trip 32 at 11 p.m. and 5 a. m. At 11 p. m. the crank 34 will; swing arm 18 and, asdescribed will adjust the pointer 21 until the same engages the lug 22on stop member 23. The pointer will then be held and the furthermovement of the crank will swing arm 18 and post 14 relatively to theplate 13. At 5 a. m. the alarm will be again operated and the pointer 21moved in a similar manner to engage the other stop lug 22 and registerwith the numeral on the casing 26. lit will be observed that when thearm 18 is swung it will normally carry the member 21 therewith, but whenthe member 21 is held for movement, the arm 18 can continue its movementby moving the post 14 relatively to the plate .13. v,

In Fig. 8 isshown a modified form of the arm 18. In this form the arm 18is provided with an aperture 36 by which it will be secured to the post14, as is the arm 18. The arm 18' is made of a flat plate and this platehas upwardly projecting lugs 18 and 18 at its lower portion, the lug 18extending upwardly from one edge of the plate and the lug 18 extendingupwardly from the other edge thereof, the lug 18 being spaced somedistance above the lug 18*. With this construction, the crank pin whengiven a half revolution, will contact with lug 18 and move the lever 18'to the right. This will throw the member 21 to the left. \Vhen the crankpin is .given its next halt' revolution experienced it will contact withthe lug 18 and move the arm 18 to the left and the member 21 to theright. After having moved the lever 18' one way or the other, thecrankpin will pass by the lugs and through the space between the same andwill thus have free movement for part of each half revolution.

The structure described is quite simple in comparison with theregulators in the prior art. In the first place, it is often necessaryto have the regulator re-adj usted or returned to the factory for somechange or repair. With applicants construction, the casing 8, whichcarries the operating portion of the regulator, can be readily removedby an inperson without detaching any wires and this portion of theregulator can then be sent back to the factory.

The structure for swinging the pointer 21 and the contact members 18 isobviously extremely simple and, furthermore, is rugged and rigid inconstruction. In regulators of the prior art, considerable trouble hasbeen experienced by the vibration or trembling of the thermostat arm 12resulting in the N131- ing and breaking of the circuit unnecessarily,this vibration being often caused by the jarring or vibration of thebuilding. By having the end of member 12 bent to engage lightly with theplate 13, the friction between these parts will effectively prevent thistrembling or vibration of this part of the device. This not only avoidsthe unnecessary make and break of the circuit causing the audibleoperation of the regulator. but also makes it possible to have the spacebetween the contact members 18 of smaller dimension. This space can alsobe constantly uniform.

The use of the arms 31 and the alarm crank shaft enables the regulatorherein disclosed to be adjusted to much finer regulation than has beenheretofore possible. It has been the practice to have a time controlledgear wheel as a part of the regulator, which gear wheel has spaced lugsbent upwardly therefrom which engaged with a trip member at the side ofthe gear. These lugs invariably became bent out of true position andthus caused a variation in the adjustment. The trip member hasheretofore been equipped with a small downwardly extending arm which wasoperated by arms projecting from the time-controlled disk similar to thedisk 30 herein disclosed. The bending of these arms and the trip arminvariably occurred,

thus render-in the adjustment more inaccurate. It has een impossible,heretofore to adjust a regulator within a twenty minute interval. Theregulator herein disclosed can be adjusted within an interval of threeminutes. It will be noted that the trip pin 32 will quickly andinstantly dro past the end of the arm 31 and the mem er 21 will beaccurately and positively moved to its position. There are no parts tobecome bent and thus distort the adjustment.

The extreme simplicity of the regulator will be appreciated by anyonefamiliar with the devices of similar type which have been heretoforeconstructed.

It will, of course, be understood that various changes may be made inthe form, details and arrangement of the device without departing fromthe scope of applicants invention, which, generally stated, consists inthe mattershown and described and set forth in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A regulator for heating devices having in combination a back plateadapted to be attached to a support, blndin posts carried thereby andinsulated'there rom, a casing member adapted to be attached to saidplate and readily detachable therefrom, binding posts carried by andinsulated from said casing, spaced contacts and a thermostaticallycontrolled member connected respectively to said last mentioned bindingosts, and spring clips on said last mentioned inding posts adapted tocontact with the binding posts on the said plate when the casing andplate are connected.

2. A re ulating device having in combination a t ermostat, a contactmember connected thereto, an insulating plate,contacts carried therebybetween which the end of said contact member is disposed, said contactmember having a portion in contact with the insulating plate wherel'i Yvibration of said member will be prevented.

3. A regulator device having in combination a thermally-controlledcontact member, an insulating plate, flat contact members carried bysaid plate having thin substantially parallel edges spaced from eachother and from said plate, the said thermally controlled contact memberhaving a portion extending between the edges of said flat contactmembers and normal to said edges and alternately movable into contacttherewith.

4. A regulator device having in combination, a casing, a thermallycontrolled contact member carried by and insulated from said casing, aninsulating plate pivotally mounted for oscillatory movement andtrictionally held in the position to which it is moved, and spacedcontact members carried by said plate, the thermally controlled contactmemer having its end portion disposed between the last mentioned contactmembers.

5. A regulator device having in combination a movable thermallycontrolled contact member, an insulating plate mounted for oscillatorymovement and to be frictionally held in the position to which it ismoved, spaced contact members carried by said plate, the end of thethermally controlled contact member being disposed between said lastmentioned contact members, and a member secured to said plate adapted toco-operate with a temperature scale on said regulator.

6. A regulator device having in combination an adjustable memberconstituting a pointer adapted to co-operate with a temperature scale onthe regulator, an insulating plate to which the said member is secured,spaced contacts carried by said plate,

a thermally controlled contact disposed be tween said contact members,and a frictionally held post on which said insulating plate is carried.

7 A regulator device having in combination an adjustable memberconstituting a pointer adapted to .co-operate with a temerature scale onthe regulator, an insulating plate to which said member is secured,

an oscillating post on which said plate is carried, said post beingfrictionally mounted to be held in the position to which it is moved, anarm connected to said post, a time controlled member for moving said armto move said adjustable member, said plate and post being frictionallyconnected for relative movement.

8. The combination set forth in claim 7 and stop members for limitingthe movement of said adjustable member.

9. A regulating device comprising an insulating plate, electricalcontact members thereon, an oscillatory frictionally mounted post onwhich said plate is carried, said plate being frictionally connected tosaid post normally movable therewith, but capable of having adjustablemovement relative thereto.- r

10. A regulator having in combination an adjustable member adapted toco-operate with a temperature scale on the regulator, an arm for movingsaid member, a clock mechanism havin an alarm device including an alarmsha t, means on said shaft for movin said arm, and a time-controlleddisk in sai clock mechanism having arms thereon for tripping the alarmdevice.

11. A regulator having in combination an adjustable member adapted toco-operate with a temperature scale and to be moved to adjust theregulator, an insulating plate to i which said member is connected, africtionally mounted post on which said insulating plate is carried,said plate being frictionally connected to said post for movementrelative thereto, and time controlled means for swinging said adjustablemember.

12. The combination set forth in claim ll and stop members for limitingthe movement of said adjustable member.

13. The combination set forth in claim 11 and independently adjustablestop members for limiting the movement of said adjustable member ineither direction.

14. A regulator having in combination an adjustable member adapted toco-operate with a temperature scale and to be moved to adjust theregulator, an insulating plate to whichsaid member is secured, africtionally held post on which said plate is carried and to which it isfrictionally connected, an arm secured to said post, clock actuatedmeans for swinging said arm to move said adjustable member, and stomeans for limiting the movement of sai adjustable member, said arms andpost being movable relatively to the insulating plate after theadjustable member contacts with the stop.

15. A regulator device having in combination a thermostaticallycontrolled contact, adjustable contacts with which said contactco-operates, an insulating plate by which the last mentioned contactsare carried, an adjustable member for moving said a 17 A regulatordevice comprising a back plate having electrical contacts thereon, anintermediate casing having electrical connections thereon andthermostatic means for controlling the same, a top casing having atemperature scale thereon, and a clock device having means for adjustingthe thermally controlled means on the intermediate casing, said plate,intermediate casing, top casing and clock device being adapted to beconnected together, and readily detachable means for connecting the sametogether, whereby they can be quickly and entirely separated.

18. The structure set forth in claim 3, the end of said portion being incontact with the insulating plate.

19. A regulator for a heating device having in combination a back plateadapted to be attached to a support, binding posts carried thereby andinsulated therefrom, a casing member adapted to be attached to saidplate and readily detached therefrom, binding posts carried by andinsulated from said casing, spaced contacts and a thermally controlledmember connected respectively to said last mentioned binding posts, anda separable connection between the binding posts on the plate and thebinding posts on the casing adapted to be connected when said plate andeasing are connected.

20. A device of the class described com: prising a comparatively longswinging member disposed and movable between contact members to controlthe circuit and movable adjacent and substantially parallel to a surfaceand having a free end bent to lightly contact with said surface toprevent vibration of said end.

21. A device of the class described, comprising a time controlledindicating member, a clock mechanismhaving an alarm shaft, an alarmtripping member controlling said shaft and tripping means for saidtriping member comprising a member movable relatively thereto, andhaving a recess cut therein forming a sharp pointed projection adaptedto pass said tripping member and to allow the same to drop into therecess.

22. A regulator device having in combination, a thermally controlledcontact member, an insulating plate having thereon fiat contact membershaving thin sub-- stantially parallel edges spaced from and parallel tosaid plate, said first mentioned member having a portionextending'substantially parallel to said plate, and a portion bent toextend substantially normal thereto and between said edges, said memberbeing movable to alternately bring said last mentioned portion, intocontact with said edges.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

HARRY E. HEINZ.

